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Germany decides to buy six of the required MKS-180 ships

Germany to buy six MKS-180 multi-role warships – ministry

Mon Feb 13, 2017 5:07pm GMT

BERLIN (Reuters) – German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen has decided to buy six MKS-180 multi-role warships instead of putting off a decision on two of those ships until 2030, her spokesman said on Monday.

The ministry decided last October to delay a tender for four warships, which was valued at 4 billion euros (£3.4 billion), to ensure that quality standards were met. A decision on two extra warships had initially been planned in 2030.

“The need is there. Now the minister has decided to buy all six of the required MKS-180 ships,” the spokesman said, without providing a new cost estimate for the programme.

The new ships, to be delivered from 2023, will be used for attacking targets on land and underwater, as well as providing aerial protection to other vessels.

The three teams bidding to build the new warships are the Bremen-based shipyard Luerssen and Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems, Blohm + Voss and the Dutch group Damen shipyards, and German Naval Yards paired with Britain’s BAE Systems, according to security sources.

Von der Leyen’s decision comes against the backdrop of increased pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump for Germany and other NATO countries to spend more on their own defences.

Germany is boosting military spending by nearly 2 billion euros in 2017 to 37 billion euros, or 1.22 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), but said it would take time to reach the NATO target of spending 2 percent of GDP on defence.

The German government, together with France, has been pushing for greater European defence and security cooperation, especially after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.

Berlin has also deepened its bilateral military ties with the Netherlands and Norway with recent agreements.

On Monday, Norway announced that Germany would buy naval strike missiles from its Kongsberg Gruppen for more than 10 billion crowns (£895.1 million).

The German defence ministry said the two countries would work together on developing the Norwegian firm’s missile.

The MKS-180 ships are to be the first to be outfitted with the new missiles, and they will become standard equipment on German and Norwegian frigates in the longer term.

The German minister’s decision to buy all six ships will not affect the current procurement process, with the two additional ships to be purchased under a separate lot, the spokesman said.

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MKS-180 multi-role warships

Image: mks180.blogspot.com

Background

The multi-role vessel 180 (MCS 180) (first as Mean surface combatant unit (Miike) or K131) is an arms project of the German Navy . As part of the reorientation of the Bundeswehr the planned quantity has been reduced from eight to six. The number of only six MKS 180 was called in the summer of 2010. In June 2015, finally, the decision to tender for the procurement of at least four units was announced. These are the Navy made successively available from 2023rd More recent sources and data in the literature now speak of multipurpose frigates of class F126. Already in 2014 it was reported that a frigate that fully meets all the requirements, will be greater than the Sachsen class . In June 2015 has been declared, the Department of Defense have chosen to great design fully meets all requirements. The costs are estimated at about 4 billion euros. The army called a manning of up to 180. Three consortia with German participation taking part in the tender. According to the previous plan (Mai 2016) to the job until late summer 2017, will be signed before the elections.

Image: mks180.blogspot.com

Technical details

Since the end of 2011 a number of awards shall be made, in which German shipyards to submit their concepts.Usually two or three concepts per supplier be required with alternative hull shapes, etc. The Bundeswehr calls of the ship:

Combined Anti-Missile Defence (ASMD) , Anti Air Warfare (AAW) and anti-surface warfare (ASUW) ability to the outer limit of the closest area with a mix of gun (mean Multipurpose barreled weapon against sea and air targets, two light gun against lake – and air targets, two RAM block 2 ), airports and decoys (two multifunctional launcher) with a “threat reasonable detection unit” to cover the entire EM spectrum (radar, IR, laser)

Access control options (PIN / chip card) at all openable from the outside bulkheads / hatches

Day and night recording capability of organic UAV / board helicopters also in meteorological boundary conditions

The demands for a two-year period of use (intensive use) associated with low manning levels (up to 140 persons + 70 persons Einschiffungskapazität) require a high survivability of all systems with the greatest possible service intervals. The focus is on reducing the life cycle costs on a absolutely necessary size in the foreground. As a result certain requirements:

Intensive use of with more crew model, crew changes every four months within 96 hours

Duration of use and driving profile analogous frigate 125

Extensive repair functionalities such as online diagnostics with home workshops (telemaintenance) and modules can be exchanged at levels Material Grade 3 by the crew with shelves for driving ability and self-protection

Flight deck for shipborne helicopter with take-off weight up to 15 t, with hangar facility for flight operations, maintenance and repair of a shipborne helicopter and two UAVs

The MKS 180 is designed modular mission. As a result, the ship will be equipped with standardized equipment and personnel packages for certain missions or assignments. The operational requirements of the MKS 180 see the time (end of 2013) the following mission modules before, the focus is on the underwater combat:

As regards the establishment and operation of mission modules and 20-ft containers the ship prepared shelves needed for payload with corresponding supply terminals for complete technical integration and night and all weather access and additional jobs on board, which should be considered in the design of the vessel. The vehicular components include two rigid inflatable boats with maximum continuous driving of over 35 knots and two launching devices. They should give the ship the ability to use two teams use special forces simultaneously.